Latest Reviews
-
To be frank, this place is very under rated. Since we had ordered non-vegetarian items, I will only talk about them! We had ordered Chicken tandoori a…
Jay Kumthekar
El Taj
-
Ordered food from this place when our stay in lonavala, they won’t deliver at your place since it is on the highway a bit far off from where we were s…
Vipul Bandekar
El Taj
-
The food was amazing. Great mughlai food, I tried butter chicken boneless, butter Naan, butter kulcha, dal kichdi, dal tadka. All the food was superb …
Delvin D'Penha
El Taj
About
El Taj is open for Casual Dining. El Taj serves North Indian, Mughlai and Chinese dishes. Incorrect or missing information? Make a report, or claim the restaurant if you own it!Details
Feature List
home deliveryindoor seatingReviews
Leave a Review
You must be logged in to post a comment.
6 Reviews on “El Taj”
To be frank, this place is very under rated. Since we had ordered non-vegetarian items, I will only talk about them! We had ordered Chicken tandoori and Chicken dum biryani, an both of them were nearly perfect. The only thing that needs an improvement is the ambience, else its one of the best places to spend some good time with friends and family.(Prefer the AC sitting :p)
Ordered food from this place when our stay in lonavala, they won’t deliver at your place since it is on the highway a bit far off from where we were staying.Butter chicken – Chunks of grilled chicken (tandoori chicken) what was missing was a well cooked smooth buttery & creamy tomato based gravy a bit sweet a bit tangy.The chicken was not as tender as expected, but I cannot expect it to be similar to some delicious butter chicken I have had in mumbai and DelhiChicken tandoori full- too hard for me too eat it, it was well cooked and charcoal burnt but wat was missing was the masala and tender chicken. It was a bit dry and chewy Did not try the paneer masala, also roti naam kulcha was all upto the mark. Heavier on the pocket for a home delivery the quantity is large, one box of butter chicken can stuff upto 3 -4 people easily.
The food was amazing. Great mughlai food, I tried butter chicken boneless, butter Naan, butter kulcha, dal kichdi, dal tadka. All the food was superb and very tasty. The place doesn’t look very grand or appealing from outside, it has a very old school look and even inside the restaurant it looks like a simple restaurant and not much, but mughlai is brilliant, the waiter did mention they are famous for their mughlai food also. They didn’t have tuborg brand of beer and only had kf.
Tasty food (ordered chicken biryani and chicken tandoori) but unhygienic kitchen..later saw dogs in the kitchen:(Not a comfortable experience. Will not eat there again!
El Taj, the place seems to be as old as lonavala itself. First run by an unknown proprietor, not it comes under the umbrella of Kamat Hotels, a predominantly vegetarian chain handling a hard core meaty place.If my first statement doesn’t make it clear, allow me to repeat, the place is ancient, I remember back in the days, drives to lonavala would mean 1) Kalamboli McD 2) Take-away from El Taj.The food hasn’t changed, the favorites remain the same, butter chicken with naan(if you are eating in), tandoori chicken or the jungli kebab. Again, the place is inconsistent with their flavours and cooking of their meat. Sometimes, it will be the best darn kebab you have had, other times it will be hard enough to knock your teeth out.The butter chicken ranges from bland to dessert-like sweetness (you have to be extremely unlucky for that to happen though)Dining in although an option, is something that should be avoided, the interiors are dismal and depressing paired with the fact that you get sudden glimpses of a dreary kitchen makes for a total appetite killer.All that being said, they still have good food that is worth a tryQuick RatingsAmbiance – 2/5Service -3/5Food – 3/5VFM – 5/5
This review is more about history rather than the current state of the restaurant.El Taj before it was taken over by the Kamat group was an iconic moghlai restaurant of Lonavla-Khandala.The tandoori chicken was a must have item for anyone visiting Lonavla on weekend.I remember frustrating long wait we had to endure before the tandoori would finally arrive on the table!And the times when the waiters started recognizing us and would oblige us by an out of the turn serving!And the times we would tip (bribe?!) the waiter as soon as we sat to get prompt serving of the coveted dish!And the times when we could see that none of this would work on a particular weekend because of extra rush, we would book our order and go off to take a round and return an hour or so later!All this seems like an figment of someone’s fertile imagination now, but did happen in the 80s!